Chapter 13: Plastic Sisters

When Li Yancheng told the girl she was not pregnant, she was clearly skeptical. Although she didn't voice her doubts, her actions spoke volumes. By refusing treatment, she made it obvious that she intended to go to the county hospital for a second opinion. Li Yancheng did not mind; he was indifferent to her choice.

Xiaojuan felt a bit embarrassed. After leaving the clinic with her friend, she turned back to return to the room. "Brother Dacheng, I'm sorry. It’s not that Pingping doesn't trust you, it’s just..."

"It’s fine, it’s fine," Li Yancheng interrupted with a wave of his hand. "Going for a check-up is fine; at least it will put her mind at ease. But Xiaojuan, I have a good relationship with your brother, and I call your father 'Uncle.' Since we live in the same alley and are neighbors, don't blame me for being meddlesome. You’re not a child anymore; you should know what you can and cannot do. I hope you can keep yourself in check and avoid doing anything you might regret for the rest of your life."

Looking at this younger neighbor, Li Yancheng couldn't help but offer the advice. He figured that if this girl were to end up pregnant out of wedlock, her father’s blood vessels might just burst from sheer rage. Since they were neighbors, he felt obligated to say his piece; if she didn't listen, there was nothing more he could do.

His words caused Xiaojuan’s face to flush red. However, she wasn't the type to be ungrateful and knew this neighborly brother meant well. Despite her shyness, she nodded firmly. "Thank you, Brother Dacheng. I'll remember that."

"Good. Hurry back now. It’s freezing outside, and the road is a muddy mess—be careful. I’ll likely be here for another ten or twenty days; if anything comes up, feel free to come find me."

"Okay, Brother Dacheng, I’m heading off then."

"Go ahead."

...

Watching Duan Fengjuan and the girl named Pingping walk out of the clinic gate, Li Yancheng sighed and turned back into the consulting room.

"Yancheng, that girl earlier—she’s the child of the neighbor you mentioned you gave food stamps to, right?"

"That’s right."

"Sigh, these youngsters really are a handful."

"Aren't they? She even wanted to keep the baby. It’s a good thing she isn't pregnant; if she were actually showing, imagine what people would say about her."

Li Yancheng truly felt relieved for her. The girl had spoken lightly of keeping the baby, but that was only because she didn't understand the gravity of the situation. Once faced with the reality, she likely wouldn't be able to withstand the public shaming and might even be driven to extremes.

"She wanted to keep the baby if she were pregnant?" Zhou Guotao asked in astonishment. He had assumed the girl was looking for a way to terminate a potential pregnancy. "Isn't that just too naive?"

"Heh," Li Yancheng replied with a bitter smile, shaking his head. "She told me that herself outside. I didn't even know how to advise her. But it’s for the best that she was mistaken and isn't pregnant."

"Yancheng, are you certain?"

"I'm quite sure. I didn't detect even a hint of a slippery pulse; all I felt was a deficiency of cold in her spleen and stomach, along with weakness caused by malnutrition."

Meanwhile, on the road back to the educated youth dormitory, the girl named Pingping was questioning Xiaojuan about Li Yancheng.

"Xiaojuan, how good is your neighbor’s medical skill, really?"

"It should be decent. He’s a graduate of a proper school, and his grandfather was a doctor too. Think about it: he has a family tradition of medicine and has had systematic training in school. I don't think he’s bad at all."

"Do you think he was just trying to fool me? Telling me I’m not pregnant so he could secretly perform an abortion on me?"

"What?"

Xiaojuan was stunned, her mind going blank for a long moment. She finally asked in disbelief, "Pingping, have you lost your mind? Brother Dacheng doesn't even know you; what would he gain from lying to you?"

"Let me be blunt: whether you’re pregnant or not is none of his business. He doesn't even know your name, and he’s not the leader of our youth team who might worry about being implicated if something happened to you. Is it worth it for him? I’m your friend, so I’m worried you’ll suffer, which is why I advised you. Go ask anyone else—tell them you’re pregnant and see if they even care. It has nothing to do with them!"

Xiaojuan was truly baffled by her friend’s train of thought. Who did she think she was, that everyone would be out to get her or force an abortion on her? In truth, aside from one's parents, no one cared if you lived or died unless there was a conflict of interest. If something were to happen to her, others might offer a few hypocritical words of pity, but they would immediately turn around and go about their own business because it had nothing to do with them.

The girl seemed to grow angry out of shame. Even though the road was muddy and they had been holding onto each other's arms to avoid falling, she yanked her arm away from Xiaojuan and marched off alone without another word.

Xiaojuan felt baffled. She felt she had only spoken the truth and hadn't said anything excessive. Was it necessary to give her the cold shoulder like that? Seeing the girl walk off, she decided not to lower herself by chasing after her with a warm face for a cold reception. If she wanted to walk alone, let her. It wasn't as if she didn't have other friends. If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have walked back and forth on such a muddy road today.

Now that she was throwing a tantrum, she could keep it—she wouldn't be catering to her anymore.

After taking a few steps, Xiaojuan stopped. Her eyes rolled, a smile blossomed on her face, and she turned back around. It was nearly eleven o'clock, and she decided to mooch a lunch off Brother Dacheng before heading back. Otherwise, she would have to cook for herself, and after five or six miles of trudging through mud, she feared she might faint from hunger before she even made it home.

Back in the clinic, Li Yancheng and Zhou Guotao had stopped talking and were sitting by the stove, each engrossed in their own books. Through his self-study over the past few days, Li Yancheng discovered he actually enjoyed reading medical texts. Compared to the chaos of the city, the countryside was relatively quiet. With the snow these past two days, there were very few patients, which allowed him to settle down and focus on his studies.

Decades later, in an era of social stagnation, trying to change one's fate through knowledge or social mobility through education required not only academic qualifications but also immense luck. But now, it was different; knowledge truly had the power to change one’s destiny. Just like him—if he hadn't managed to get into a secondary technical school, trying to get a promotion in the army during peacetime would have been an incredibly difficult task.